Switch



A. E/COBB Dec. 16, 1958 SWITCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Jan. 18, 1955 INVENTOR ALFRED E 6088 ATTORNEY A. E. COBB Dec. 16, 1958 SWITCH 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed Jan. 18, 1955 FIG. 2

' INVENTOR AL FRED E 0088 Dec. 16, 1958 A. E. COBB 2,864,909

SWITCH Origina. Filed Jan. 18, 1955 5 SheetsSheet 3 FIG. 6

INVENTOR Mm E. 0035 FIG. 4 BY 431 M ATTORNEY United States Patent Alfred: Gobb, ,LexingtomPark; Md;

Original application January 18;, 1955, Serial No. 482,688, now Patent No'. $847543; datedAugust 12, 19585 Divided and this application June10, 1957, Serial-No.--664;859

7 Claimsoi; 200-46) (Grantedunder Title 35,13; S3 Code (1952), see. N6)

4 The: inventionidescribed herein may be manufactured and? used: by' or for theaGovernment of: the. United States of Americafor governmental purposes without' the payment: of: any' royalties thereonior. therefor.

The: present: inventiona relates to a: switch and more particularly, to a switch usedin: acardzswitchz system In manycircuitsnumerous simultaneous switching opera-tions occur whichaoperationsmust:be variedidepend ing'. upon the use of the. circuit. Examples of such circuits appear: i111 identification equipment, computing machines, training devices and tube testers. A tube tester presentsiprobablyr the simplest example of. these: circuits. Tube; testers: require simultaneous switch: connections ton-the? platezcircuit, grid circuih cathode circuit: and etc;, and different switching connections: are requiredifor dif ferent tubes;- As: awresult; switchingl equipment. for conventionah tube. testers h'ave aimultitude: of: complicated dials fll'ld-S WltCheSitI1d CE1n be used: only by: a skilled operator.

The; card switch of thisiirvention has a. pressure plate with a: pluralityrof: conducting. insulated: and parallelmountedabars and a fixed bed-with a plurality of insulated,.spidngsloaded condugting contactsa A card construct ed ofzinsulating;materialzhaving 21P6ITtllfSpLlI1ChBd th6YC- in, the position and number of the apertures being dependent on: the switchingoperationr desired, is adapted to beiplaoedabetweEnrthe pressure plate andbed' so that whenithe'pressure plate: istorceddown: on the card, only those contactsaligned with the" apertures. make contact with the: conducting: bars This simple switching opera tion: requires minimum: operator skill and a minimum amountofit'imeand therswitching operations can be easily and: speedily changed with little chance for error by a mere change ofzcards; Therelaremany ancillary advantages ofi this' switch, two: of which are: compactness of theisystemtand adaptability for: a: novel painted resistor. novelresistor" has been. providedthat isan integral partt of the card: switch and thus the requirement for external resistors is obviated inisome circuitsiand lessened in: number in-all circuits; Resistancematerial is painted on ap'iece of springy plastic material and'is inserted on the underside of tl'iespring' contact'bed? and by constructiomandpositiomis madeto touch'a whole row: of spring loaded; contacts. Thus, a2 variable resistor is formed since a varying amount of resistance can betapped oh? by a varying selection of spring-loaded contacts.

This application is adivision of application Serial No. 482,688, filed January 18, 1955, now Patent No. 2,847,543, August 1 2, 1958, for Card Switch System. Accordingly an object of the present: invention is the provision of. a switch for making numerous, varied, and simultaneous switching operations.

Another object is to provide a compact switch for making simultaneous, numerous and selectable switching operations.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a compact switch for making simultaneous,

V 2,864,909 Patented Dec... 16,. 195.8

ice

2v numerous and selectable switching operations and providing a variable amount of resistance.

Other objects and many of theattendant advantages of this-invention will be readily appreciated as thesame becomes better understood'by reference to the following detailed description when considered inconnection with the accompanying drawings wherein? Fig 1- shows an isometric frontand side viewofa preferred' embodiment of: the apparatus ofthe invention.

Fig. 2 is an' isometricrear and" sideview of the ap paratus shown in- Fig 1.

Fig. 3 is a representative sectional isometric view of a portion of the apparatus.

Fig.4"illustrates an isometric view' of aresistor which is adapted to be used in the: apparatus.

Fig; 5'-- isanisometric view-- of the resistor of Fig. 4 informedfand assembled relationship asused' in the apparat'us in formlslightly modified from the showing in Fig. 32

Fig.= 6 shows-a1section1of the apparatus taken on the line:6-6 of:Fig: .1 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now to the' drawings, whereinlike reference charactersdesignate like or' corresponding parts through out theseveral views there isshown in Fig. 1 (which il lustrates a preferred embodiment)'- a: pressure plate- 11 to which there is attached insulating material 12 for holdinglconducting bars 13. Aniinsulating bed 14 con tains rows of spring loaded contacts 1'5 and stops 162 An insulating card lThav-ingapertures18 is shown-ready for placement betweenthe hed:l t andzplate 111 Due to projection. 22'; which: corresponds to projection 21' on plate 1 1; in: cooperation: with stops 16: on bed 14: an incorrect place'ment of the card17: is prevented; Handle 231 isijoinedf by oonnectingrods 25 toplate 11' and" by connecting rods- 24 to brackets 26. Brackets 26- are secured to'ib'ase- 27'by any suitablemeanssuch as bolts 28. A bracket* 29 with slot30 is-prov-ided-at the rear oftthe; bedi14 for holding: pins 31 whenthe switch is in a closed:'position':. In'Fig; 2', whichshows the switch in a closed. position; it is' seen that connecting rods 25 are rotatably mounted? by means: of. a conventional structure 32' aboutiaxis 33'. The: specific type of structure 32 that isemployedlisa matterof discretion, there being many suitable structuresthatfare1=well known in the art. It is to be noted that the. axis ofr'rotation 341' of connecting rods24 is:displaced=beneathaxis-331 An insulatingpanel 3'5 islprovided' to. the rear of the-base 27' on which are rows of connecting pins" 36. Each pin 36 is connected to a. selector spring-loaded contact: andis adapted to connectthe contact withiamexternal'circuit terminal; In Fig. 3 a portion of the bed 14 and two'of the springloaded contacts are shown in detail. Bedi14- consists of an upper: insulating: sheet 37 and lower insulating sheet 38; Sheet 37! is: countersunk at 39 to provide spacefor spring:41.of-spring loaded-contact 15. Spring 41" bears against. collar 43 which is aflixed to rod 421 Clips 44 are' providedto electrically join rod 42 to a resistance" or; conducting. wire 45 for connection to other clips or to' 'pins 36 (supra). Th'e resistor. 51 of Fig: 4 has main'body. portion 521 and teeth'53 which are formed from one sheet of springy' insulating" material, such as a. non-conductingplastic. Two insulated strips of re sis-tancezmateriah54 are'pain'ted on main body portionSZ and:aconducting; paint coating: 55-. is provided for teeth 53; In-Fig. 5 resistor: 51 is shown. situated among the undersides of spring-loaded contacts'-15; It may be desired to employ the resistor as a potentiometer in which case the end contact would probably require grounding by a connection to clip 44. Only the pressure obtained by the spring action of the resistor 51 provides contact between rods 42. and teeth 53. In Fig. 6 some of the details of the system have been omitted which otherwise would have encumbered an explanation of the system. In this figure, wires 61, 62 and 63 are shown connected to clips 44 on the contact rods numbered 64, 65 and 66. Rods 64 and 65 are shown extended through holes 18 to join bar 13. Resistors 60 connect the various rods 15, these resistors can be a resistance Wire such as 45 of Fig. 3 or resistance 51 of Fig. 4 or any other suitable type.

In operation, insulating card 17 with selected intelligence in the form of apertures 18 is placed on bed 14, then pin 31 of pressure plate 11 is placed in the slots 30 of bracket 29. Handle 23 is moved into a vertical position as shown in Fig. 2. This movement performs two functions: to apply pressure to the card 17 and to provide a wiping action which cleans the top surface of contacts 15. This wiping action is the result of the displacement of axes 33 and 34, by which a slight forward movement of plate 11 on contacts 15' is produced when handle 23 is moved to a vertical position. Pin 31 will be slightly bent in the process but no damage is done inasmuch as the highly elastic character of the pin will ensure only a temporary deformity. Pressure plate 11 presses on card 17, and card 17 presses down on all the springloaded contacts with the exception of those aligned with apertures 18, and those contacts connect with bars 13. Thus, the bars connect selected spring-loaded contacts which give the desired switching operations through connecting pins 36 to external circuits. The switch can be used to obtain variable resistors and various voltages by means of a potentiometer. From Figs. 3 and it is seen that if resistor wire 45 or resistor 51 is used, a definite amount of resistance exists between the contacts. Of course if it is desired to use the system only for switching, no resistors will be employed, but in general use part of the system will be used to obtain resistance. To obtain a variable resistance from the switch, best shown in Fig. 6, connections are required to the pins 36 which are connected to wires 61 and 62. The resistance path extends from wire 61 through rod 65 to bar 13 along bar 13 to contact 64, from contact 64 through resistors 60 to wire 62. It is obvious that the resistance can be varied by merely changing the contact 64 that joins bar 13. If it is desired to have a potentiometer, the voltage supply is placed between wires 62 and 63 through suitable pins 36 and wire 61 then has the variable voltage output. It is thus seen that through use of the disclosed switch, an unskilled operator can perform numerous, simultaneous, selected, switching operations and also obtain a variable resistance or potentiometer by the insertion of the disclosed novel resistor in this switch.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced OlhBI'WiSC than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A card switch comprising in combination a bed containing a plurality of parallel rows of spring-loaded insulated contacts, a plate containing a plurality of parallel conducting insulated bars having the same spacing as the parallel rows of siad bed, hinge means for connecting said bed to said plate upon operation of which said bars can be placed in a pressure relationship with said spring-loaded contacts, means for providing a wiping action between said bars and said contacts upon the occurrence of a pressure relationship therebetween, and an insulated card adapted to be placed on said bed and having apertures that are alignable with chosen spring-loaded contacts whereby only those contacts alignable with said apertures make contact with said bars upon an operation of said hinge means.

2. A switch for making numerous simultaneous switching connections comprising first means for holding parallel conducting bars in an insulated relationship, second means for holding a plurality of rows of spring-loaded conducting rods in an insulated relationship, third means mechanically connecting said first and second means whereby upon operation said bars and rods can be placed in a wiping and pressure relationship, an insulated panel holding a plurality of pins some of which are connected to chosen spring-loaded conducting rods whereby connections to external circuits can be made through said pins, and fourth means adapted to be placed upon said rods whereby only desired rods make connection with said bars upon operation of said third means.

3. A card switch comprising in combination a base member, a bed mounted on said base member and containing a plurality of parallel rows of spring loaded insulated contacts, a plate containing a plurality of parallel conducting insulated bars having the same spacing as the parallel rows of contacts on said bed, a handle pivotally connected to said base member and said plate, said pivotal connections being along parallel spaced axes whereby, upon rotation of said handle, said bars are placed in a pressure relationship with said spring loaded contacts with a wiping action, and an insulated card adapted to be placed on said bed and having apertures that are alignable with chosen spring loaded contacts whereby only those contacts alignable with said apertures make contact with said bars upon an operation of said plate upon said bed.

4. The card switch of claim 3 including a projection on said plate and a corresponding co-extensive projection on said card whereby the proper location of the card upon said bed is insured.

5. The card switch of claim 4 including a plurality of stops mounted upon said bed for abutting the edges of said card to further insure proper location of said card.

6. A card switch comprising in combination: a base member, a bed mounted on said base member and containing a plurality of parallel rows of spring loaded insulated contacts, a plate containing a plurality of parallel conducting insulated bars having the same spacing as the parallel rows of contacts on said bed, a first pair of brackets mounted on said base member, a pair of rods, each pivotally connected to a corresponding bracket, a second pair of rods pivotally connected to said plate, said pivotal connections of said rods to said brackets and plate respectively being along parallel spaced axes, said first and second pair of rods also being connected to a common handle, whereby, upon rotation of said handle, said bars are placed in a pressure relationship with said spring loaded contacts with a wiping action, and an insulated card adapted to be placed on said bed and having apertures that are alignable with chosen spring loaded contacts whereby only these contacts alignable with said apertures make contact with said bars upon an operation of said plate upon said bed.

7. The card switch of claim 6 and further comprising a U-shaped bracket mounted along one edge of said bed, said bracket having a side and a pair of arms, a slot within each of said arms, a pin on the plate extending the width of said bed adapted to be placed into said slots when said card switch is in operative position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

